Thursday, May 11, 2017

Ten Shekels: A Prequel

It happened
a year before we made aliyah. A business conference for my husband on the east
coast inspired us to take a family vacation. With four children aged two to
eight it was a historical pilgrimage, a sort-of farewell to America. After the Statue of Liberty, Twin Towers,
Connecticut, Martha’s Vineyard, Lexington, and Concord we arrived in Boston.

Our hotel
was centrally located and we were ready early the next morning to begin
sightseeing. Old Ironsides was to be our
first stop. Dressed as tourists and smeared with sunscreen we made our way to
the bus stop. We had a long wait and once the bus arrive we boarded it eagerly.
My husband handed the driver a bill large enough to cover the cost of our
tickets, probably only a dime or quarter a piece. To our dismay the driver
shook his head, refused the bill, and pointed to a sign.

Exact
Change Only

My husband
and I looked at each other in dismay. Neither of us had change. Should we get
off the bus and wait for the next one? How long would that take? Having
vacationed in Israel the previous year my husband had an idea.

Turning to
the commuters he asked, “Does anyone have change for five dollars?”

The summer
before we’d boarded buses and were amazed at the helpfulness of the other
passengers. If there weren’t enough seats strangers would grab our children and
put them on their laps. Teenagers would give up their places for us. No matter where we were we could always find
at least one person to give us directions. We knew that Boston wasn’t Israel
but we certainly weren’t prepared for the response we received.

Dead
silence. People stuck their newspapers in front of their faces. Just as we were
getting ready to descend a man in a business suit stood up and stuck six coins
in my husband’s hand, refusing to accept the five dollars in exchange. I don’t know if it was his intention or not
but he made me feel like a panhandler.

Embarrassed
we slunk to our seats and sheepishly sat down. Old Ironsides was a nice outing
and we managed to forget our humiliation enough to enjoy it. However, we never
rode another bus until we came to Israel a year later.

1 comment:

During my last visit to AZ I ended up running back into the shopping center to buy more stuff and took the next bus half an hour later. I probably had exact change but felt so disoriented, I couldn't even search my bag.

Aim of Blog

Emunah, faith in God, does not mean believing only good things will happen; it means believing that whatever God does is for the best. I wrote these words at a time when drive-by shootings and suicide bombers had become almost weekly, if not daily, tragedies. Now, more than ten years later, the words are no less true. Whatever HaShem does is for the best. It is my hope to post articles, advice, and homey stories everyweekwhich will reinforce this fact. And now, a special thanks to:

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About Me

Born in Wichita, Kansas, I became a Baalat Teshuva, newly religious, in Phoenix, Arizona while attending ASU. After twelve years of marriage my husband and I made Aliyah with five children and settled in Shilo in the heart of Israel. Two more children joined the family as have daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, and grandchildren, Baruch HaShem. My favorite past times are learning, sewing, hiking, reading, cooking, baking, enjoying my family and friends, and, of course, writing. My first novel, Sondra’s Search, was published in 2007 and I am working on the sequel.